Tax revenue, including VAT, amounted to 5.5 percent of the UAE’s total public revenue last year while oil revenues and the profits of public joint-stock companies accounted for 36.1 percent and 32.9 percent respectively, according to official Ministry of Finance figures.
The ministry said the UAE’s decision to apply VAT was positively reflected in the country’s overall budget. Total revenues in the government budget amounted to AED456 billion ($124 billion) in 2018, including tax revenues worth AED25 billion ($6.8 billion).
It added in data cited by state news agency WAM that 2018 witnessed a budget surplus of 2.2 percent compared to deficits of 0.2 percent, 1.3 percent and 6.4 percent in 2017, 2016 and 2015.
The UAE Government adopted a VAT rate of 5 percent at the start of 2018 to promote economic growth in isolation from oil revenues and increase the state’s ability to continue providing educational and health services and public facilities.
Recent studies by the ministry pointed out that the budget surplus in 2018 resulted from the growth of general revenue by 13.3 percent, which surpassed the rate of public spending growth of 4.2 percent.
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